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ok I need to stop getting angry with the internet so let's have a chat about non-cobalt options for EV batteries
cobalt is rare, most of it is mined from DRC, which is a huge country that's been in civil war for decades. mining conditions are appalling: https://federicoscoppa.photoshelter.com/gallery/Illegal-mining-Congo/G0000P2VPGuMgSv0
cobalt is rare, most of it is mined from DRC, which is a huge country that's been in civil war for decades. mining conditions are appalling: https://federicoscoppa.photoshelter.com/gallery/Illegal-mining-Congo/G0000P2VPGuMgSv0
cobalt is used in the cathodes (the + end) of lithium-ion batteries and it's a problem. getting hold of it is bad, there's very few practices for recovering it from used batteries, as usual we are flinging ourselves headlong down a pathway that leads to future problems.
[important note: this does not mean oil is more ethical, lots of exploitation and human and environmental suffering is caused by extracting oil - pipelines and pumps destroy landscapes, climate change is killing people, we just need to do the future better than that]
so it's important, given EV batteries are the biggest lithium-ion batteries we currently mass produce, to try and move away from cobalt reliance.
the solution, so far, is to use nickel instead but oh no, it's also bad: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/sep/15/norilsk-red-river-russias-most-polluted-city-clean
the solution, so far, is to use nickel instead but oh no, it's also bad: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/sep/15/norilsk-red-river-russias-most-polluted-city-clean
we could make this better. we could mine sustainably, we could treat the communities around mines like people, we could pressure that that is more important than share price. we *should* do that.
but also reducing cobalt and nickel reliance is a good thing to innovate.
but also reducing cobalt and nickel reliance is a good thing to innovate.
there's a good story every few months where a new alternative to cobalt is found and each time they get better, involve lower heat treatment, etc but at the moment they're all nickel-rich: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378775320306935
there is an alternative to nickel and lithium, though and slightly ironically, given the idea is to move away from reliance on petrochemicals, it's plastic - this hasn't gone into EVs yet but iron fluoride, with a solid electrolyte, works: https://news.gatech.edu/2019/09/09/stretchy-plastic-electrolytes-could-enable-new-lithium-ion-battery-design
